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Charles Kent

Bio

Charles (Chuck) Kent is Senior Advisor to WRI Brasil. From 2012 to 2016, as Deputy Director, he coordinated the establishment of this new entity as part of WRI’s global presence. From 2013 to 2015 he also collaborated in the creation of the Observatório do Amanhã at the new Museum of Tomorrow, in Rio de Janeiro. Chuck devoted 34 years of his career to the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

In his last decade of service (2000-2010) he directed the Office of Community and Business Innovation, which included the Smart Growth Program. Early in his career, Chuck served as head of the science policy group at the National Institute for Space Research (INPE) and CNPq in Brazil, where he has contributed in the First Scientific and Technological Plan for Brazil. With a small group of professors and students from various disciplines, he helped establish the Environmental Studies Program at the University of California at Santa Cruz. He also studied the policy of economic and social development at the University of Nairobi, Kenya. Chuck holds a bachelor's degree in Government from the University of California, and a master's degree in Science, Technology and Public Policy from George Washington University.

He is married to demographer Mary Mederios Kent, and has two grown children and one grandson.

Brazilian cities and municipalities vary in the status of their efforts to collect GHG data and conduct emissions inventories. The event focused on emissions management efforts so far. Below are six lessons highlighted by participants in the discussion:

1. Strong political commitment is crucial for success. Many cities in Brazil have made strong political commitments to address climate change. For example, Rio and Belo Horizonte have created municipal climate change laws with mandatory GHG reduction targets. Rio’s target is to reduce emissions by 20 percent below 2005 levels by 2020, while Belo Horizonte’s is 20 percent by 2030. In both cases, city-wide GHG inventories have been conducted to inform and track performance toward these targets.

2. The inventory is the first step in low-carbon development. Participants stressed the importance of the GHG inventory process (see figure below) as a planning tool to help cities assess their emissions, identify emission sources, set reduction targets, prioritize mitigation actions, and track performance. For instance, Belo Horizonte’s inventory found that the transportation sector is the city’s major source of GHG emissions (71 percent); this information will help the city identify reduction measures. Prof. Jose Goldemberg, former federal Minister and São Paulo State Secretary of Environment, stressed that GHG inventories help cities identify key emission sources and implement low-carbon technologies. Nelson Moreira Franco, Director for Climate Change Management and Sustainable Development for the City of Rio, stressed that the “GHG inventory is a powerful instrument to manage emissions and influence policy-making.”